It's getting colder. The nights are getting longer.
Well, except my bikes don't think so. Both of them still show British Summer Time. The reason? I'm getting as bad as a man. I haven't read the handbooks, and I can't work out how to alter the time settings on either of them. Oh well, I suppose I'll have to get the books out and read up on it.
So, what's new? I took my usual jaunt to the annual NFL match at Wembley last Sunday. It was such a lousy game (Patriots beat the Rams 45-7) that I almost resent the exorbitant price of the ticket. I say almost, because, despite the terrible game, the atmosphere is just so uplifting and joyous, and Wembley is such a great stadium. It's also nice to get the chance to spend a day with my son and his beautiful wife. Days like that are few and far between at the moment.
Also new is my bathroom. Yes, finally got rid of the old one, installed when the house was built in the 60s, and got a nice new shiny one. The building firm have done a marvellous job, even if they did paint the walls totally the wrong colour! I chose a soft, creamy yellow - and they decided to paint it blue! They did say they'd redo it of course, but having seen the finished bathroom, and the way the blue complements the floor covering, I've decided I actually rather like it!
It wasn't an easy life whilst they were doing it though. They literally gutted it - right back to the brickwork and floor joists. They very thoughtfully put down carpet protectors throughout the house, but absolutely everything is covered in a thick layer of just - despite having been hoovered twice since they finished! And trying to sleep when you're on nights, with a jolly workman singing at the top of his voice, is not easy!
Won't be many more days this year when I feel inclined to go for a ride just because I can, but I'm determined to get at least a couple more in before the Winter hardens the ground and softens my resolve. I treated Jack to a pretty new windscreen a couple of days ago, and hopefully he'll get treated to one or two extras for Christmas to pretty him up ready for next year. I'd also like to get a couple of runs out where I can take pictures with my new camera. I've not had much chance to use it yet.
What else..........ah yes, the American Presidential elections are upon us once again. I've not discussed it with my daughter-in-law, Brooke. We sort of have a tacit agreement that politics and religion are not generally discussed. That way, we don't fall out with each other ;) I assume though, being a Mormon, she will vote for Mitt Romney. Maybe I assume wrongly, I don't know. I know Obama has not been the best president ever, but in my opinion, he's not exactly been the worst either, and I do think he's probably still the lesser of two evils. Some of Romney's statements have done little less than horrify me. And Obama's reaction to the terrible destruction caused by SuperStorm Sandy, were 1000% better than George W's reaction to Hurricane Katrina and the terrible plight of the people of New Orleans.
And so, update on my various hobbies. As far as the genealogy is going, I'm still trying to piece together my father's family, and it's proving to be a nightmare. As well as being one of the largest families in Lancashire, they have some given names that propagate throughout the different lines and generations. I've lost count of how many Johns I've got married to Marys! The good thing to come out of this whole project though, is that I've re-established contact with the branch of my family that emigrated to Canada when I was very young, and I have a whole raft of previously unknown cousins and other various assorted relatives.
My jewellery shop is ticking along. I'm not pushing it too much yet, as I don't have time to keep making stuff for it, but it's very comforting to know that it is there, already established, for when I retire, or if I fall prey to redundancy. I've been spending a lot of time learning and practising new techniques, and expanding my horizons. There's absolutely loads of tutorials on websites, blogs and YouTube, so I've not needed to invest in many expensive books and so on. Which, of course,means I've got more money to spend on beads, doesn't it? ;) As one of my suppliers has it, 'money can't buy happiness, but it can buy beads'!
Anyway, enough drivel, I must get on with some work. Or perhaps, instead, I'll do the next episode of the A-Z..............
Showing posts with label genealogy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label genealogy. Show all posts
Saturday, 3 November 2012
Friday, 23 December 2011
Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves
I was born in the wagon of a traveling show
My momma used to dance for the money they'd throw
Papa would do whatever he could
Preach a little Gospel, sell a couple bottles of Dr. Good
Gypsies, tramps and thieves
We'd hear it from the people of the town
They'd call us, gypsies, tramps and thieves
But every night all the men would come around
And lay their money down
So sang Cher, and that song illustrates just how most people think of the itinerant race we call Gypsies.
I come from Gypsy stock myself, on my maternal grandmother's side. I've traced their lineage back over 250 years so far, and the family history is fascinating. OK, so my grandmother was 'settled' - no longer travelling, but living in a house; but other members of the family were show folk and circus people, or workers travelling from farm to farm, following the crop seasons, and hopefully earning enough money to sustain their family during the lean Winter months.
I've always known about our Gypsy heritage, but I never really understood what happened to turn an honest itinerant way of life into the much maligned 'traveller' image that we see today.
And I don't mean that I despise travellers or their way of life, just that other people evidently do.
Now I have a better understanding, and it's down to a friend pointing me in the direction of a book which she thought might reference my family, as it's a Gypsy history of South London and Kent.
Stopping Places, by Simon Evans, is more than just a history of travelling families in this area, it does a lot to explain why the traditional Gypsy way of life is being eradicated. It describes the life of these people, living in bender tents and horse-drawn vardos, until the mechanisation of farming began to reduce the need for casual labour. At the same time, traditional stopping places were being closed off, and more and more Gypsies were being forced onto permanent sites - often closely resembling concentration camps in their bleak outlook.
Simon Evans' clear sighted and compassionate account of the changes imposed on the age-old Gypsy culture is all the more powerful for the inclusion of over 170 photographs, together with vivid first-hand accounts of the recent Gypsy experience.
rating: 5/5
My momma used to dance for the money they'd throw
Papa would do whatever he could
Preach a little Gospel, sell a couple bottles of Dr. Good
Gypsies, tramps and thieves
We'd hear it from the people of the town
They'd call us, gypsies, tramps and thieves
But every night all the men would come around
And lay their money down
So sang Cher, and that song illustrates just how most people think of the itinerant race we call Gypsies.
I come from Gypsy stock myself, on my maternal grandmother's side. I've traced their lineage back over 250 years so far, and the family history is fascinating. OK, so my grandmother was 'settled' - no longer travelling, but living in a house; but other members of the family were show folk and circus people, or workers travelling from farm to farm, following the crop seasons, and hopefully earning enough money to sustain their family during the lean Winter months.
I've always known about our Gypsy heritage, but I never really understood what happened to turn an honest itinerant way of life into the much maligned 'traveller' image that we see today.
And I don't mean that I despise travellers or their way of life, just that other people evidently do.
Now I have a better understanding, and it's down to a friend pointing me in the direction of a book which she thought might reference my family, as it's a Gypsy history of South London and Kent.
Stopping Places, by Simon Evans, is more than just a history of travelling families in this area, it does a lot to explain why the traditional Gypsy way of life is being eradicated. It describes the life of these people, living in bender tents and horse-drawn vardos, until the mechanisation of farming began to reduce the need for casual labour. At the same time, traditional stopping places were being closed off, and more and more Gypsies were being forced onto permanent sites - often closely resembling concentration camps in their bleak outlook.
Simon Evans' clear sighted and compassionate account of the changes imposed on the age-old Gypsy culture is all the more powerful for the inclusion of over 170 photographs, together with vivid first-hand accounts of the recent Gypsy experience.
rating: 5/5
Monday, 19 April 2010
Roots
For the past couple of years or so, I've been researching both mine and my husband's family tree.
At first, I was a bit half-hearted about it, but as time has gone on, I've started to get really involved. I've managed to get 2 branches back to the mid-1500's, and one branch back to 1340!
Ploughing through huge amounts of parish records, has turned up some fascinating details about both our families. For instance, quite a few of his emigrated to Australia - and not purely by choice! Whereas, some of mine were hanged for being smugglers in Kent and Susssex.
I already knew that my maternal grandmother's family were show-folk and gypsies, so there were few surprises there.
But it has been some of the finer details that have affected me most. For example, over 3 generations, three of my husband's relatives committed suicide. The strange thing was, they were all called John. I hope that's a lesson to anyone in his family who is currently expecting a baby!
But it was the baptism records for one small Kent village that had me laughing and crying alternately. comments like...........
'Baptism: George - sone of ye known Hore' (that was from the late 1500's) that one made me giggle, despite myself.
But the saddest?.............
'Baptism: twins. one a male child being called Simon, the other having no name, being called a creature'
That one had me puzzled, and left me feeling slightly disgusted. After a lot of thought, I came up with a plausible (although very sad) answer. Spina Biffida is very prevalent in my mother's family, and it has resulted in some terrible disabilities, even in my lifetime. It is possible that one twin was so severely deformed, that it could not even be sexed, let alone named.
I intend to carry on my investigations. If nothing else, it gives me an excuse to go ride my motorcycle all over the county, with the pretext of 'research' ;)
At first, I was a bit half-hearted about it, but as time has gone on, I've started to get really involved. I've managed to get 2 branches back to the mid-1500's, and one branch back to 1340!
Ploughing through huge amounts of parish records, has turned up some fascinating details about both our families. For instance, quite a few of his emigrated to Australia - and not purely by choice! Whereas, some of mine were hanged for being smugglers in Kent and Susssex.
I already knew that my maternal grandmother's family were show-folk and gypsies, so there were few surprises there.
But it has been some of the finer details that have affected me most. For example, over 3 generations, three of my husband's relatives committed suicide. The strange thing was, they were all called John. I hope that's a lesson to anyone in his family who is currently expecting a baby!
But it was the baptism records for one small Kent village that had me laughing and crying alternately. comments like...........
'Baptism: George - sone of ye known Hore' (that was from the late 1500's) that one made me giggle, despite myself.
But the saddest?.............
'Baptism: twins. one a male child being called Simon, the other having no name, being called a creature'
That one had me puzzled, and left me feeling slightly disgusted. After a lot of thought, I came up with a plausible (although very sad) answer. Spina Biffida is very prevalent in my mother's family, and it has resulted in some terrible disabilities, even in my lifetime. It is possible that one twin was so severely deformed, that it could not even be sexed, let alone named.
I intend to carry on my investigations. If nothing else, it gives me an excuse to go ride my motorcycle all over the county, with the pretext of 'research' ;)
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